Unexpected Development
by Clara Barton
Summary: After a one night stand on Halloween, Duo tries to forget about his unforgettable neighbors. Continuation of the Unexpected arc.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Not an update on current WIPs but Weeping Wednesday got really sad and I didn't feel up to facing _Sideshow_ and _Before Now_ after all the sad.

A/N #2: Continuing in the _Unexpected_ arc.

A/N:#3 Just go with the idea of doorbells inside an apartment building. I know it's weird. But they… they have an eccentric landlord, okay?

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter One

Duo loved his job. He loved to travel, he loved the money, he loved the fact that he only spent a few days - at most a few weeks - in one place and then he was off again. For the most part he even loved the people he worked with. Models were… interesting, they were people, the same as anyone else, but their unique position of being objects as well as individuals led to some very interesting personality developments. Duo wouldn't go so far as to say he loved all models - but he appreciated them and he liked most of them.

But more than his job, Duo loved his bed. Loved it with the kind of commitment that had him dropping his bags at the doorway to his room and flinging himself onto it, arms outstretched, fingers clutching the sheets, nose breathing deeply into the feather pillow.

He loved his bad so damn much. Especially after spending more than a day flying from Bangkok back to New York City. The flight had had one stop - in Seoul - and Duo had treasured those precious three hours to of stretching his legs because he knew, from experience, that the fourteen hour flight from Seoul to New York was going to be brutal.

And it was. He needed to start flying first class on these long, half-way across the world flights, because even though Korean Air had more leg room than most, it was still cramped, still meant he was unable to sleep for long. He had also had the dire misfortune of being seated next to a couple returning from their honeymoon. He had no idea how he had been unlucky enough to be seated beside them on both legs of the flight - but he had been. What had started as grumpy bickering at the gate in Bangkok had turned to full blown passive-aggressive promises to call parents and lawyers by the time the plane started its approach to Seoul and by the time the plane finally, _finally_ was wheels down at JFK the couple were teary-eyed and tense and had drudged up seemingly ever mistake either of them had made in their five year relationship.

Duo practically hurdled the seats when they were given the all clear in his effort to escape them. But of course, as he stood for forty five minutes waiting for his luggage, they showed up, both openly crying now, and even when he tried to move away, to the opposite side of the carousel, he could see them and hear them.

But now he was home, now he was in bed, his bed, the love of his life, and none of it mattered anymore because he was going to sleep for the next twelve hours or three days - he hadn't decided which yet - and nothing would stop him.

Without bothering to get up, he shimmied out of his jeans and pulled off his sweater. He had forgotten, after only two weeks in Bangkok, that it was mid November in New York and he had only had the warmth of the light sweater he had worn on the flight and as a result he had spent the entire cab ride home shivering.

He was grateful that Hilde kept the apartment warm - despite their agreed upon thermostat setting of sixty-five in winter, the apartment was clearly somewhere above seventy - and he burrowed under the comforter in just his underwear and closed his eyes.

-o-

The doorbell was ringing.

It sounded as if someone was just holding their hand over the buzzer without letting up, and Duo let it go on for five minutes, tried to will his body to ignore it, to ignore everything but the perfect mattress under his exhausted body but -

It didn't stop.

He opened his eyes and looked over at his nightstand, at the clock that said it was six-forty five in the morning.

He groaned.

It had been four thirty when he stumbled into the apartment. Either he had been asleep for two hours or twenty six hours. It felt like two.

The doorbell was still ringing.

Duo more or less fell out of his bed, only just catching himself, and walked to the front door.

He looked through the peep hole.

Trowa Barton stood on the other side holding a foil covered plate in one hand and a silver kettle in the other, his elbow wedged against the doorbell. He looked well-rested and freshly shaved. It was the first time Duo had seen him since Halloween night, and Duo looked over him hungrily. Trowa was wearing jeans that clung to his long, lean legs and a green cable knit sweater that looked warm and cozy and really shouldn't look that sexy. Hell. Duo was willing to bet Trowa made anything look sexy.

He realized that Trowa was still ringing the doorbell.

Duo opened the door.

Trowa smirked and then looked over Duo's lack of attire, his exhausted face and messy braid and raised an eyebrow.

"Morning," Trowa said, his voice cautious.

"A very early morning," Duo growled.

Trowa frowned.

"Hilde forgot to tell you."

"Huh?"

"She said she would tell you - she said I could come over and hijack your television today if I bribed you with pancakes and hot chocolate."

Duo frowned.

"No, she didn't mention-"

He looked over his shoulder, at the chalkboard in the entrance hallway where they left messages for each other. Hilde was out of town for the next few days, visiting her pregnant sister, and Duo hadn't spoken to her in four days.

_Bossy sexy fuck toy is coming over to watch Good Morning America on Friday. You're welcome._

Duo flushed.

Shit.

"Ah… give me one second?" He stepped away from the door and tried to wipe the chalkboard clean using only his hand.

"You call me the bossy sexy fuck toy?"

Trowa had stepped into the apartment and was looking at Duo in amusement.

"Um."

There was no easy way to get out of this.

Of course he called Trowa the bossy sexy fuck toy - though, to be fair, that had been Hilde's label when Duo told her about the events of Halloween night - but he couldn't just acknowledge that.

"What do you call Heero?"

Trowa sounded far more amused than irritated.

"Um."

Duo felt himself blush and he felt like an idiot. He was twenty seven. Twenty seven year old men did not blush.

Trowa looked even more amused.

"Pretty cock fuck toy," Duo admitted.

Trowa's lips twitched but then he nodded.

"Heero _does_ have a pretty cock," he agreed.

Duo leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Please tell me this is a dream or an exhaustion induced hallucination."

"I don't know, do your dreams normally feature bossy sexy fuck toy bringing over pancakes and hot chocolate?"

Duo sniffed the air. He could smell both and he felt his mouth water.

"No. Usually my dreams about bossy sexy fuck toy have nothing to do with food."

They stared at each other for a long moment and if Duo hadn't been exhausted, if he hadn't last showered three days ago, he might have tried to keep flirting. But as it was -

He lifted his hand to cover a jaw popping yawn.

"Why do you want to watch Good Morning America?" Duo asked after he had finished.

"Heero's on it this morning."

"Oh. Oh - that's cool." Duo frowned and thought back to that night two weeks ago, to Trowa and Heero's apartment. "You don't have a television?"

"We do, but no cable."

"Oh - why didn't you just go down to the studio with him?"

Trowa gave him a look.

"Because he hates to give interviews and he's convinced he's going to embarrass himself and he doesn't want me to witness it."

"So you're determined to watch."

"I don't want to see him embarrass himself. But I'm a fan of his. I want to watch him live on national television." Trowa hesitated. "Hilde said it wouldn't be a problem. She said you would get back in town last night and -"

"This morning. Two hours ago."

Trowa winced.

"I'm sorry."

Duo waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it. Uh… I guess come in. Television is that way… kitchen's over there if you wanted to eat your pancakes."

"You're not going to join me?" Trowa sounded disappointed and a little hurt.

"I -" Duo stumbled on his excuses. He hadn't slept in days. He had survived the flight from hell. He wasn't a morning person even when he had slept. He didn't like Good Morning America.

But Trowa's green eyes more or less made his mind go blank.

"Just let me put on some pants," he said instead.

Trowa smirked and looked over Duo's naked chest and further down, eyes lingering on the front of his boxer briefs.

"If you insist."

"It's cold," Duo muttered, stupidly pleased that Trowa was ogling him.

When he came back to the living room he was wearing sweatpants and a black, long sleeved t-shirt. He found that Trowa had been busy.

The coffee table was laid out with pancakes, butter, syrup that Duo didn't even know they had, plates, silverware and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. It looked like heaven.

Trowa was surfing through the television, trying to find the right channel, and when he found the show he sat down on the couch beside Duo.

"This looks amazing."

"Hilde told me you had a weakness for pancakes and hot chocolate."

Duo nodded and then sighed when he took a bite of the pancakes.

"Oh my god they're lavender. You _made_ lavender pancakes?"

Trowa smirked.

"Hilde said you'd had them once six years ago and hadn't shut up about them since."

Duo picked up his plate and sniffed it, inhaling deeply.

"Holy fuck, I love you. Seriously. I don't care what kind of long term committed relationship you have to Heero. Leave him for me. Today. Please. Spend the rest of your life making these for me and I swear I will do my best to make you happy."

"Tempting offer," Trowa laughed.

They watched the opening segment of the show and listened as the guests were listed.

"Damn. Sounds like he won't be on for a while," Trowa sighed when Heero's name was mentioned last as the 'talented young author with a new book coming out next week.'

"I didn't realize he had a new book," Duo said, feeling silly.

"_Finding North_," Trowa said. "We'll see if anyone wants to turn it into a hetero-love story movie." He sounded a little bitter, and Duo supposed that the negotiations for film rights to Heero's other book, _Out at Home_, weren't going so well.

"_Finding North?"_ Duo thought about the compass tattoos both Trowa and Heero had. He wondered if he was related to that.

"It's… a coming of age story about a young writer falling in love with an artist and coming out," Trowa sighed and Duo couldn't tell if he was frustrated or not. "It's good. Better than _Out at Home_ \- and that was a great book."

"It sounds…"

"Vaguely autobiographical?" Trowa supplied and he shrugged. "It is. Heavily fictionalized and with a lot better dialogue than Heero and I ever managed."

"So you're telling me that if I read it I'll get to learn about how you guys met."

"Yeah. Or you could just ask and get the real version."

Duo finished up his pancakes and hot chocolate and settled back on the couch beside Trowa. Neither of them were watching the show.

"So. How did you two meet?"

Trowa rolled his eyes.

"He was a model in my advanced life drawing class."

"And you fell in love with his pretty cock."

"No. I fell in love with his spine. The base of it, specifically."

Duo couldn't help but remember that that was where Heero's compass tattoo was located.

"So. You saw the base of his spine and it was love at first sight."

Trowa gave him a look.

"I asked him to model for me. I was doing a series and I just couldn't get the back right and he was perfect. We spent a few weeks together and… yeah. We fell in love."

"And you're okay with people reading about it?"

Trowa shrugged.

"Heero changed a lot and it's a good story. We talked about it. It's… yeah. I'm okay with people reading about it."

Duo felt a small surge of envy for the fact that Heero and Trowa had a love story so good it was worth publishing. Whereas the only love story Duo was involved in was with his bed. His bed.

Now that he was warm and full of pancakes and hot chocolate Duo felt the lure of sleep more strongly than ever.

Trowa noticed his eyes start to droop.

"Going to take a nap?"

"Hm. Yeah. Wake me when he's on." Duo curled into one corner of the couch.

Trowa chuckled and draped the blanket over him.

"Thanks," Duo yawned and then closed his eyes.

-o-

When he woke up again, Trowa was saying his name softly and Duo blinked awake slowly.

He had shifted, had somehow moved from his corner of the couch and was now laying against Trowa's side, the other man's right arm draped around his shoulders.

Duo tensed for a moment.

"I guess I moved."

"Yeah." Trowa tapped his fingers on Duo's shoulder. "Don't worry about it - Heero's on."

Duo focused on the television and tried very hard not to think about how good Trowa smelled.

Heero looked handsome and deeply uncomfortable. He was wearing dark gray trousers, a blue v-neck shirt and a black cardigan. He looked casual and handsome and Duo looked up to see Trowa smiling fondly at the television.

"Heero, you've made something of a name for yourself writing gay love stories."

It didn't sound like much of a question, and the look on Heero's face was far from neutral.

"Jesus. This is going to be a disaster," Trowa muttered.

"Yes," Heero said after a lengthy pause.

"And… why is it that you write in that genre?"

Heero stared at the woman who had asked the question and for a moment it looked as though he was going to say something scathing. Duo felt Trowa tense against him.

"It's an underrepresented genre, at least in mainstream fiction, and it's one that I feel passionate about. As a gay man it's easy enough to find gay erotica, but more challenging to find good, meaningful fiction where the romance isn't just a cut scene between creative sex."

Heero's answer seemed to take the interviewer aback.

Duo laughed.

"Damn. That was good."

"Do you consider yourself a role model for young gay men?"

Heero frowned and he shrugged.

"Not particularly. I write what I write because I want to. There's not much about me that someone can model themselves after - the only reason I'm dressed this well is because my fiance picked out my clothes for me last night."

That garnered a laugh from the interviewer and a chuckle from Trowa.

Fiance.

The word did something strange to Duo.

He sat up and moved away from Trowa and back to his corner of the couch.

Trowa glanced at him, but the interviewer was talking to Heero again.

"And what does your fiance think about your fame?"

"He's happy for me, obviously," Heero said, still sounding a bit irritated at the inane questions.

"And what are your Thanksgiving plans?"

Heero shrugged.

"We'll spend the holiday with friends and family and make sure everyone buys copies of my book."

Another laugh from the interviewer.

"And this book, _Finding North. _It's about a young writer coming to terms with his sexuality. How autobiographical is this book?"

Heero shrugged.

"Not very. I think most writers use our craft to… put some piece of ourselves out there into the world, and I certainly have things in common with Daniel, the protagonist. But _Finding North_ is his story, not mine."

"What can we expect from you next, Heero?"

"I suppose that depends entirely on how well this book sells," Heero said with a slight smirk. "But I'm working on a few projects at the moment. We'll see what comes of them."

"Well, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us this morning. Heero Yuy, author of _Out at Home._ His new book, _Finding North_, comes out next week."

They shook hands and then the show cut away to a commercial break.

Trowa arched an eyebrow at Duo.

"Something upset you."

"What? No. No. Sorry. Just… tired. He did well." Duo nodded at the television, desperate to not talk about the fact that Heero and Trowa's engagement felt like a sucker punch.

And why?

Why did it bother him so much?

It had been one night, two weeks ago. And maybe Duo had spent a good chunk of time in the two weeks since remembering that night, thinking about each of them, wishing it could happen again, wishing he could somehow wedge himself into their lives.

After a few rounds of fantastic sex that had left them all tired and Duo suspected sore, Trowa had made coffee and omelets for them, Heero had loaned Duo sweatpants so that he didn't have to climb back into his bodysuit, and the three of them had sat in their kitchen talking for hours. It had been the best night Duo had ever spent with anyone, not even counting the amazing sex, and he felt a lonely ache whenever he thought back to it.

"Yeah, I'll have to reward him for not biting her head off."

Duo offered a weak smile when Trowa smirked at him.

Trowa looked him over, seemingly trying to figure out what was wrong.

"You look exhausted. I'll let you finally get some decent sleep."

"Oh. Ah - thanks."

Duo stood up and helped Trowa clear away the food, packing everything into the dishwasher so he could deal with it later.

"I appreciate you letting me watch him," Trowa said as he lingered at the door.

"No problem. I appreciate the bribes. And it was good to see him - to know he's getting attention."

Trowa nodded.

"He's worked hard for it."

"Not to mention he's incredibly talented."

"That too," Trowa agreed.

He seemed on the verge of saying something but then he shook his head.

"Thanks again."

He started to walk away and Duo started to close the door.

"Wait."

Trowa came back.

"Yeah?"

"It was the fiance thing, wasn't it? It bothered you when he said that."

Duo thought about lying or deflecting, but he clearly took too long to decide what to say.

Trowa nodded.

"I thought so."

"Look, it's - I'm really happy for you two. You seem like a great couple and I hope you're very, very happy together and -"

"Heero hates the term partner," Trowa interrupted Duo.

"What?"

"Heero hates the term partner. He thinks it sounds like we're in business together and he doesn't like to say it. I think boyfriend sounds like we're in high school. And lover isn't PC enough for him to say in interviews so we decided on fiance."

"Oh. So… you two aren't getting married?"

Trowa shrugged.

"We've been together for seven years. He's the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and he feels the same way about me but we're not that crazy about the idea of marriage."

Duo arched an eyebrow.

"Our parents are divorced. His mother has been remarried three times after Heero's father died. Marriage isn't… something we believe in all that much."

"And one night stands with your neighbor? Those are something you believe in?"

Duo shouldn't have asked. Should have kept his mouth shut and let his bruised heart hold out hope that not believing in marriage meant a chance to spend more time with Heero and Trowa. He shouldn't have said those words out loud, however.

"I can't really speak for pretty cock fuck toy," Trowa said, his voice somehow sounding amused and irritated at the same time, "but as I told you that night, we aren't in the habit of asking people to join us."

Duo nodded. He felt like an ass.

"Yeah. No. You said that. I - I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore."

He needed sleep. He needed sleep and he needed a night of amazing sex and even more amazing conversation so that he could forget about Heero and Trowa.

"I'm sorry," Trowa said.

"For what?" Duo asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure, but I feel like I should be sorry for something."

Duo had to laugh at Trowa's honesty.

"Oh. Damn. Uh, well, thanks for that. I… I really need to get some sleep. It was good to see you again," he added when Trowa nodded and started to walk away again.

Trowa turned and smiled at him, a soft, genuine expression that made his eyes light up.

"It was good to see you too," Trowa said.

Duo closed the door and he leaned back against it.

Fuck.

He was fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter Two

"Is it supposed to smell like that?"

Hilde turned to Duo with an alarmed expression.

"Like what?"

"Like burning?"

Her face turned completely white and she shoved Duo out of the way and yanked open the oven door.

"It doesn't smell like burning," she insisted, sounding more than a little desperate.

Duo tried to keep a straight face when she turned back to him but failed.

Her eyes narrowed at his smirk and she slammed the oven door closed.

"_You -"_

"It smells great. Perfect," he assured her and held his hands up in surrender.

But she continued to advance, hands on her slim hips, looking adorable and terrifying in the floral apron she had put on over her favorite red cocktail dress.

"I'm going to kill you," she muttered.

Duo rolled his eyes.

"From boredom. Please. Let me do _something_."

While he had not risen at two in the morning like Hilde had to start roasting the turkey, he had been up with her for the last three hours and he had been relegated to the sidelines of the kitchen as she prepared everything singlehandedly.

"Duo. You yourself admitted that you don't like to cook or know how to cook."

"Well, no, but -"

"But I want this to be perfect. And I love you, Duo. I do. But I don't want to serve burned mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Again."

Duo winced at the reminder of last year, when she had allowed him to be in charge of what she deemed to be the safest possible dish.

"You know he's already head over heels for you," Duo had to say.

Hilde gave him a look.

"What? He is! You could probably just have fried chicken and mac and Quatre would think it's the perfect Thanksgiving meal."

"This isn't just about _him_. His sister is coming over."

"What?"

Hilde sighed and started dicing carrots with alarming speed.

"When Quatre called to cancel on his family his sister Iria was worried or something - I don't know - and insisted she would spend the day with him if he was sick or - or whatever so he invited her."

"Uh huh." Duo surveyed the amount of food Hilde was preparing. The last he had heard, yesterday when he got back from Florida, was that it was going to be the three of them and he had prepared himself to be an awkward third wheel by going out again and buying a few bottles of his favorite Syrah. But this - this looked like food for more than four people. Even more than four with leftovers.

"You sure it's just one sister he's bringing?"

Hilde groaned.

"Well - well he talked it up to her and made it sound like this big thing, like this thing you and I do every year that is so important to us and -"

"But it is. Every year you make great food and we watch Star Wars. Hilde - Hilde this is the single greatest day of the year, every year."

She bit her lip.

Duo covered his face with his hands.

"Jesus. Just tell me. Did you invite the whole building?"

"Not the _whole_ building."

Duo glared at her.

"Who?"

"Just… Wufei and Heero and Trowa and Trowa's sister."

Duo stared at her.

And then he realized.

"Fuck."

He grabbed his coat.

"What - where are you going?"

"I need to get more wine. I only got enough to get myself drunk."

It wasn't until he was on the street, walking on the empty sidewalk, that it really hit him.

_Heero and Trowa and Trowa's sister_.

Duo hadn't seen or spoken to either Heero or Trowa since Heero's interview, since the morning he made an ass of himself by throwing himself at Trowa and practically begging to be invited back into their bed.

And now they were coming over for Thanksgiving. For hours of what Duo strongly suspected would _not _be watching Star Wars with Hilde while eating her delicious food.

They were probably going to sit at a table.

Everyone together. And he would have to look at Heero and Trowa, would have to look at them look at each other, and he would have to get incredibly drunk because he didn't like crowds to begin with, felt like an idiot around Wufei at all times to begin with, and couldn't help but look at Heero and Trowa and want to confess his undying love to begin with.

He needed to numb himself, needed to probably start drinking now, and it was a good thing that there was a bar beside his favorite liquor store.

-o-

When he got back to the apartment, carrying as much wine as he physically could, pleasantly buzzed off of two Old Fashions at the bar, Duo immediately felt like an asshole.

Hilde wasn't alone.

Quatre and a blonde woman who was clearly his sister Iria, were there as well.

Iria was seated at the kitchen counter, a glass of Duo's favorite Syrah in front of her, and Quatre was the one to open the door when Duo fumbled around with the keys for too long.

Duo set down the wine by the refrigerator, trying to artistically cram it into the small wine rack on the floor and then giving up and stacking an additional four bottles on the counter.

He sent Hilde an apologetic look, but she just regarded him with wide, pleading eyes.

Right.

Time to turn on the Maxwell charm.

It was a very, very good thing he had stopped to have a few drinks.

He smiled widely at Quatre and Iria.

"Quatre! Good to see you again! And this must be your sister, Iria?"

She gave him a cool smile.

"And you must be Hilde's extremely attractive male roommate - the man with such good taste in wine." She saluted him with her glass.

"Well, Hilde gets all of the credit for that. Before we met my palette was awful."

Iria arched an eyebrow.

"And how did you two meet? Quatre tells me you two have been living together for years."

Duo could see Hilde looking at him with desperation and he wondered _why_ -

Oh. Extremely attractive male roommate.

Duo laughed.

"Well, we initially met at a party when we were freshmen at BU where she actually set me up with this really hot soccer player - what was his name, Hil?"

"Matt."

"Matt - Matt Yesnik. Anyway, Hilde set me up with him and we've been friends ever since."

"You're gay." Iria stared at him.

Duo arched an eyebrow and looked between Quatre and Iria. Quatre looked amused, looked like he was laughing silently at his sister and enjoying the hell out of himself.

"Yes. I'm gay."

"Oh. Well." Her smiled warmed several degrees and she looked over the dishes Hilde was finishing up in the kitchen. "It looks absolutely delicious, Hilde."

"Thank you," Hilde said and mustered a genuine smile. She turned to Quatre and Duo. "Boys, why don't you set the table? I think everyone else will be arriving soon."

"I'm sorry," Quatre whispered to Duo as they set the table, as Duo reflected upon the fact that this was one of the few times the long, oak dining table would be filled with people and not his or Hilde's crap. "I know you two usually do your own thing on Thanksgiving and I've made a mess of it."

Duo shrugged.

"No worries. You haven't made a mess of anything. And now that your sister doesn't think Hilde's sleeping with me I'm sure everything will go great."

Quatre chuckled.

"I tried to tell her that there was nothing going on with you two, but I didn't know… I didn't know if you were out or if you wanted strangers to know about your or…"

"I appreciate your concern," Duo said, touched, "but I'm definitely out. My days of hiding who I am ended when I was in high school."

Quatre offered him a wan smile and it looked like he wanted to say something, but the doorbell rang.

Duo drew a deep breath and steeled himself - no matter who was on the other side of the door, he probably wasn't going to be ready to say hello to them.

It turned out to be Wufei, who almost smiled at Duo but instead his face settled into a kind of grimace and he thrust a bottle of wine into Duo's hands.

"Hilde mentioned you liked this wine," he said, his voice almost angry.

Duo looked at the label. It was his favorite Syrah. Well. It would certainly have good company with the other eight bottles in the kitchen. He had forced himself to buy a few bottles of white, of some Pinot Grigio that had looked inoffensive, so that he didn't come home with _only_ a dozen bottles of Syrah.

"Thank you," Duo said, a little taken aback. Then again, guests were supposed to bring something over - aside from snarky attitudes.

"I'm worried Brooklyn is going to run out of the 2010 Donkey &amp; Goat," he said to Hilde as he set the bottle in the kitchen with the others.

She snorted.

"How was I supposed to know you were going to stock for Prohibition?" She muttered, but she seemed more at ease, happier, more herself now that Iria wasn't glaring daggers at her.

"Can I get you anything?" Duo asked Wufei after an elbow prod from Hilde.

"I suppose I can join…" Wufei looked at Iria.

"Oh, this is my sister, Iria," Quatre said. "Iria, this is Wufei, he lives on our floor as well."

Duo poured a glass of wine for Wufei and passed it over. Wufei nodded in thanks to him and he seemed… Duo couldn't put his finger on it. But there was something different about him today.

He looked him over.

He was dressed the same as always - dark trousers, button up shirt under a cardigan. The model of a lit professor.

Wufei caught Duo staring at him at the exact moment that Duo realized what was different about him.

Wufei arched an eyebrow and Duo flushed.

"I - sorry. I've never seen you with your hair down."

Wufei tensed, his spine so straight Duo wondered if it was painful, and his dark eyes narrowed, as though daring Duo to comment on the choice.

"It's nice," Duo murmured, feeling like an idiot, like an asshole - like he always did whenever he tried to talk to Wufei.

Wufei's eyes remained narrowed, and he frowned slightly.

When the doorbell rang again, Duo practically sprinted for it.

He paused at the door and drew in a deep breath and then forced a smile onto his face as he reached for the knob.

Duo wasn't in the least surprised by the way his heart started to race when he saw Heero and Trowa, when he looked them over and catalogued what they were wearing, the way they stood close to each other, the slight smirk on Heero's face, the tilted left corner of Trowa's mouth and his intense green eyes, only one really visible under the fall of his auburn hair.

And then he realized he was staring, realized they were staring right back at him, but it didn't really matter, did it? When Heero's eyes were so intense, so shamelessly looking him over and Trowa's tilted lips were curving into a full smile and fuck.

He was fucked.

"Ahem."

All three of them started, looked away guiltily and shifted on their feet.

A tall, auburn haired women stood behind Trowa and arched an eyebrow.

"My sister, Catharine," Trowa said and stepped aside, allowing Catharine to step forward and shake Duo's hand.

"Hi," Duo said, stupidly.

"Hi," Catharine responded, smiling. She offered him a bottle of Syrah. "My brother said this was a favorite of yours?"

Duo choked on a laugh but he nodded.

"Yes, yes thanks."

Heero and Trowa gave him curious looks, but Duo stood aside and gestured for them to enter.

"Please come in, I think everything is almost ready."

"I also made this," Trowa said, lingering a moment after Heero and Catharine went inside. He held aloft a golden crusted pie. "Hilde mentioned she could use a hand with dessert."

"It looks great," Duo said.

Trowa smirked.

"It's blueberry lavender."

Duo stared at him. More lavender.

"Ah - do I refrigerate it or…?" Duo took it from Trowa and tried not to think about the way their fingers touched as Trowa handed over the plate.

"It doesn't need to be refrigerated," Trowa assured him.

Duo forced himself to turn away and go back to the kitchen, to put the pie and the wine down and remind himself that Trowa and Heero were...not the marrying kind but didn't make a habit of inviting anyone into their bed, or likely their kitchen for midnight omelets and coffee. It was one time. It was over.

-o-

Dinner went fine up until Catharine and Iria inexplicably decided to compare their brother's accomplishments, Catharine listing the awards Trowa had won in college, the galleries he had shown at; Iria following up with Quatre's role as an acting principal in the violin section of the New York Philharmonic, the music school for underprivileged children he had started last year. Both Trowa and Quatre looked embarrassed, shared miserable looks with each other, and finished off two glasses of wine each while the war went on between their sisters.

"Well," Hilde finally interrupted when both women paused for breath and to think of more ammunition, "it's really amazing we have such talent living in our building. Trowa, Quatre - Heero, of course and Wufei - teaching at Columbia."

"And Duo," Wufei added, coming to her aid. "Is a very talented photographer."

"Yes, absolutely." Hilde nodded emphatically. "In fact, he has a show opening this next weekend at Art 3."

Duo stared at her. Everyone else stared at him.

"Really?" Trowa asked.

Duo nodded slowly and tried not to feel betrayed.

It was only his second show - his first had been years ago, at a small collective just after college and he his work had been spotted by a photographer with National Geographic who had invited Duo to be his assistant for the summer and that had led to him meeting other photographers, editors - his break into fashion photography. But he hadn't had a show since, hadn't sold any of his more artistic, his more personal photography, to anyone outside of a few acquaintances.

The show at Art 3 was a big deal, was one of the most terrifying things Duo had done in a long time, and Hilde knew he was convinced no one would show, or that those who did would wonder where the sexy models were and ask why Art 3 had wasted the gallery space on a commercial photographer.

And now she was telling _everyone _about it.

"That's great, Duo!" Quatre said, a wide grin on his face, clearly relieved to no longer be the subject under discussion. "I'm actually free next weekend - I'll have to come with Hilde to see your work."

"You should all come to support him," Hilde said, and Duo had to wonder how much she had had to drink.

Heero and Trowa exchanged looks.

"We would love to see your work," Heero said, and it sounded as though he was asking permission.

Duo sighed.

"Yeah. Great. Everyone should come." He knew he sounded angry and bitter, even without the hurt expression on Heero's face. He _was_ angry and bitter. He didn't want them there - didn't want any of them there, except maybe Hilde, just so someone would know it had happened, but he didn't want or need any other witnesses to his spectacular failure.

-o-

Duo felt nothing but relief when Quatre and Iria, the last of their guests to leave, walked out of the door.

Hilde tried to help him clean, but he brushed her off - insisting that she had done all of the hard work and he needed to do something at least and she should just take a nap because she had earned it - and spent the next hour furiously cleaning plates and surfaces and trying not to think about just how humiliating it was going to be to have Heero and Trowa stand in an empty gallery and see his photographs and wonder why no one else cared.

He cleaned the pie plate, the silver platter that Trowa had brought over, last. He should go and return it, but of course, that would mean having to see them again. And three hours at the table, staring and then not staring, had been hell already.

Duo felt a rush of anger towards himself.

_Grow up_, he thought and yanked off Hilde's floral apron and picked up the plate.

He went down to their floor and knocked on the door.

It was opened a moment later by Heero.

"Duo." He looked a little uneasy, a little unsure of how to take Duo's appearance at his doorstep.

Duo sighed and held up the plate.

"Trowa brought the pie over on this." He explained.

Heero nodded and accepted it.

"Thank you."

They stared at each other, and Duo noticed that Heero had changed, was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and he looked comfortable and sexy and Duo forced himself to step back.

"Right. Well - thanks for coming over," he said. "And thank Trowa again for the pie. It was delicious."

Heero nodded and he hesitated, starting to close the door but then stopping.

"Do you want to come in? Trowa and I were about to watch a movie and -"

Duo held up his hands.

"No, no but thanks." He couldn't do it. Couldn't subject himself to a movie with those two, with Heero in sweatpants and a t-shirt that clung to his shoulders and upper body and made Duo think about his Batman costume, about the way his abdominal muscles fluttered when Duo sucked his cock.

"Maybe some other time?" Heero suggested.

"Yeah. Some other time." Duo agreed and he walked away before he changed his mind.

He felt like banging his head against the wall, but instead he dragged himself back up to his floor, taking the stairs slowly, berating himself every step of the way.

Wufei was just leaving his apartment, leashed cat in tow.

Duo had to smirk, as he always did, at the sight.

Wufei saw him and arched an eyebrow.

"Thanks for coming over today," Duo said to him.

Wufei shrugged one shoulder but then he frowned.

"I should apologize. I… did not mean for you to become the center of attention when I mentioned your photography."

Duo stared at him.

Had Wufei just apologized? And for something that really wasn't his fault? And was he… not scowling at Duo?

"Um, don't worry about it," Duo assured him, scrambling for words. "It wasn't your fault and you didn't - it's fine," he assured him. "Really."

"If you would rather I didn't come to your show, I understand."

"No it's not…" Duo sighed. "I'm pretty sure if you do come then you're going to be one of five people there."

Wufei stared at him.

"I find that very hard to believe. But if I am, then I will be happy to be one of those five." He gestured to his cat. "I should take Nataku on her walk before she gets too anxious."

Duo nodded and watched the two go.

As he let himself back into his apartment, he couldn't help but think that this had been the weirdest Thanksgiving since the one when he came out to his parents and they kicked him out of their house.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:Trying to muster up the creativity to keep writing. Reviews of all kinds help tremendously so please… if you are still hanging on to this or my other stuff, let me know. I really, really appreciate it.

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter Three

"Stop fidgeting."

"I am _not_ fidgeting."

"You're playing with your hair, the buttons on your jacket, the cuffs of your jacket - you've retucked your shirt three times now. You're fidgeting and you need to _stop_."

Duo opened his mouth to argue but closed it when Dorothy Catalonia arched one meticulously shaped eyebrow at him.

"This is why I told you to come to the gallery at eight thirty and _not_ seven thirty. You're working yourself into an anxious mess when you should be at a bar getting pleasantly buzzed so that you can waltz in here half an hour late and charm the critics and the buyers. At this rate you're going to be shaking hands with your sweaty palms and your lips are going to be bleeding. Seriously. Duo - hang on."

Dorothy put away the Iphone that seemed to be an almost permanent attachment to her left hand and walked over to the small bar set up in one corner of the gallery. She came back with two glasses of champagne and handed one to Duo.

"Drink it," she ordered. "Chug it actually because if you sip on it you're going to start thinking and worrying again."

Duo glared but accepted the glass and did as instructed. When he had emptied it Dorothy took it from him and handed him the other glass.

"You can sip this one," she allowed.

Once again Duo followed her instructions. He let the pleasant tickle of the champagne ease him, focusing on how it felt, how it tasted, and he tried his damnedest not to think about the fact that his show was opening in ten minutes and in all likelihood would be attended by virtually no one.

"Good," Dorothy said when he finished off the second glass. "Now take off your jacket."

"What?" Duo ran his hands over the Lanvin suit jacket. Hilde had helped him pick it out at Barneys and while he wasn't in love with the price tag, he had to agree with Hilde that the nearly two thousand dollar suit was almost worth it considering just how well it fit him.

"Take off your jacket or you're just going to keep messing with it all night.

Duo glared at her but when she refused to look away and arched an eyebrow at him _again_, Duo sighed and did as instructed.

"Happy now?" He asked, handing over the expensive jacket that he was convinced he would never have occasion to wear again.

"Hm." Dorothy tapped one perfectly manicured finger against her lips. "Roll up your sleeves."

Duo didn't even bother to argue but followed orders.

Dorothy nodded and then reached out and tugged on his black tie.

"Go ahead and take this off too - and unbutton the top two buttons of your shirt."

"Do you want me to just strip down to my boxers?" Duo suggested.

"And then have to deal with you whining about being cold all night? No thanks."

Dorothy collected the tie from him and then nodded in approval. "Yes, much better. How do you feel now?"

Duo hated that he felt better, more at ease, more himself. He glared and Dorothy smirked.

"Why again are you my agent?" Duo muttered.

"Because I'm a brilliant, terrifying shark and you're just...a seal or an otter or something. Or a duck."

"A duck."

"Hm. Something cute and harmless." Dorothy explained while she pulled out her phone again. "Something cute and harmless that needs protection because it's just too cute and delicate for this world."

"Okay, maybe you think calling me cute is a compliment but I am not harmless and I am not delicate."

"Mmhm," Dorothy didn't bother looking up from her phone.

Duo sighed and looked around the gallery again.

It was hard to believe that he was standing here in Art 3, minutes away from his first show since just out of college. He knew, on some level, that he was being ridiculous. He was a successful and well known photographer in the fashion industry - he knew what he was doing. He took damn good photographs but the work on display tonight was a far cry from the glamorous shots of models and celebrities that graced billboards and magazines.

Instead, twenty four prints hung on the walls that were almost the exact opposite of what people would expect from a fashion photographer.

The first time Duo had gotten a gig on his own and not as someone's assistant had been doing a publicity shoot for a Las Vegas hotel. After wrapping for the day he had headed to downtown Vegas, to the sadder, squatter, crumbling part of the Strip that was rarely headlined and he had had a few drinks at a dive bar with some locals and taken their photographs and he had been struck by just how incredibly different life really was from the staged photographs he had taken just a few blocks away.

That had been the start of something that Duo had considered a hobby - photographing the locals wherever he worked, capturing real life, capturing real happiness that wrinkled the faces and eyes of people who weren't perfect.

Over the years he had shown Hilde a few of the photographs, he even had the one from Vegas hanging on the wall in his bedroom, and a series of them were on display at his studio, but he had never had any intention of showing them - of selling them.

Until Dorothy had seen them at his studio back in February when she had come by to drag him to an industry Valentine's Day party and that was that. Dorothy had spent months putting this night together for him, had kicked his ass every step of the way and squashed his self-doubt whenever she was around and now here he was, in a gallery he had always admired, surrounded by photographs of people who would never, in a million years, be featured in _Vogue._

Of course, those were the only people he was surrounded by.

It was 8:05 and the only ones in the gallery were Duo, Dorothy, the gallery manager and the bartender.

As if following his thoughts, Dorothy reached out and put one hand on his arm.

"Duo, people are going to come. Yes, they are late. But they will be here. You know as well as I do that no one in this industry is punctual unless a paycheck is involved. Go get another drink."

"You make me feel like an alcoholic," he muttered.

"You do buy your wine by the case," she replied.

"I do not -"

She arched an eyebrow.

"One time. _One time_ I bought wine by the case and you just won't let it go, will you?"

She shrugged.

"I will as soon as you stop reminding me about Milan."

Her comment brought a smile to Duo's face as he remembered. He opened his mouth to start teasing her but was distracted when a trickle of people entered the gallery.

"Go get a drink," Dorothy repeated, smoothing down the front of Duo's shirt. "You need to have something to choke on when the art critic from the _New York Times_ tells you she loves your work."

-o-

It wasn't the unmitigated disaster that Duo had foreseen.

It was, instead, something of a success. Even Duo had to admit that to himself at nine-thirty when he smiled and shook hands with yet another person who told him they had expected to see photographs of Gisele or Lara or Alessandra and how surprised they were to love his photographs of normal people in normal places. Duo was both appreciative and mildly offended. He knew the fashion industry was shallow, but the sheer number of people who seemed shocked to find ordinary people attractive was disconcerting.

Of course, congratulations from an appreciative public weren't the only disconcerting events of the evening.

Wufei Chang had kept his word and shown up, saving Duo from Michael, an overly handsy ex, by not quite rudely butting into his monologue about Duo's work and how much he missed Duo and really, they should get together some time soon, he had a new apartment and he was sure Duo would love the view.

Wufei had shown up, had said something snide about Duo's apartment no doubt having a superior view and suggested that Duo had better things to do than go on an apartment tour.

Michael had looked confused and Duo had had to laugh before greeting Wufei and turning away from Michael, hoping he would take the hint.

"Your work is…"

"Not super models, yeah, I know," Duo sighed. "I've been hearing that a lot."

Wufei frowned.

"I was going to say that your work is very honest. Very true."

Duo had to arch an eyebrow at how sincere and complimentary Wufei sounded.

The other man's cheeks were flushed.

"I knew you were talented, obviously. But until seeing these photographs I did not appreciate just how intelligent you really are."

Duo just barely refrained from dropping his jaw.

"I, ah… uh, thank you," he finally managed.

"No, thank you for showing these - for sharing these. I think I can understand you better than I ever thought I would."

Duo was left completely speechless by the praise.

"In any event, I wondered if you were available for private commissions."

"Uh, yeah," it took Duo a moment to respond.

"I've been hoping to memorialize Nataku and after seeing your work, if you're available, I think you are the right person to capture her."

Duo blinked.

"Uh, Nataku. Your cat?"

Wufei nodded.

"I, ah -"

Wufei held up a hand.

"I'm sure your schedule is packed, it doesn't have to be soon. But I think the experience would -"

"Wait, wait, wait." Duo couldn't help but remember what Hilde had said to him the day after Thanksgiving, when they had passed Wufei out walking his cat and Wufei and Duo had exchanged nods. _Bet you'll be the next one he puts on a leash_, Hilde had said. She was convinced that Wufei had been flirting with Duo at Thanksgiving and kept hinting about Wufei asking him out and surely - the man wanted to pay him to take photographs of his _cat_?

Two years ago Duo had been hired by an attractive, wealthy middle aged woman to take photographs of her - as a present to her husband for their anniversary she had claimed - and had tried to seduce Duo. It had been incredibly awkward and had left Duo vaguely suspicious of any 'private commissions.'

"Wufei, I'm flattered, really," Duo said, trying to figure out how to get himself out of this situation. "But I'm not really available. I -"

"As I said, there is no rush."

"No, I mean… you're attractive. Hell, you're incredibly sexy and you're smart and now that you don't glare at me every time you see me I've got to admit I kind of like you but I'm a mess and I'm just not… I'm not good at casual sex and I'm not really in a good mental place to start a relationship and I've had probably a few too many glasses of champagne," Duo finished, realizing he had said way too much.

Wufei's eyes narrowed.

"Let me assure you," he said, "I have absolutely no interest in pursuing a relationship with you."

"Oh. Uh. I just -"

"While I find you attractive I've dated men like you before and I know we would spend more time arguing than anything else. After tonight, after seeing your work, I appreciate you too much to want to grow to hate you."

"I… thanks?"

Wufei scowled.

"Wait, you really just want to hire me to photograph your cat?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Duo didn't know whether he felt relieved or insulted or amused. Probably a mix of the three.

He dug one of his business cards out of his back pocket and handed it to Wufei.

"My email address is on there. Just, ah… send me a few dates for January and I'll see what I can set up?"

Wufei took the card.

"Thank you." He looked around the gallery again. "And thank you again for allowing me to see your work tonight."

"Thank you for coming. I - I really appreciate it. Your opinion actually means a lot."

Wufei smirked slightly, but he nodded. He started to walk away but then he stopped.

"The photograph of you - at the entrance to the gallery. Who took it?"

Duo felt himself blush.

"That would be me."

He hadn't wanted to do it, had really just wanted this collection to stand alone, but Dorothy had gone on a tirade about branding and self-love and he had had to tune her out, had agreed to do a self-portrait if she would only just stop.

Wufei nodded again.

"Your work is stunning - what you see in the people around you, the way you capture the simple joy of living is very moving. But I think my favorite piece is the photograph of you."

"Because you find me attractive?" Duo couldn't help but tease.

"Because you look raw and exposed and you are perhaps the exact opposite of the industry you work in."

With that, Wufei left him alone.

Of course, he wasn't alone for long. One moments later Dorothy was introducing Duo to a new group of people that he just _had_ to meet.

His face was starting to hurt from smiling at people so much by the time he saw Hilde and Quatre walking through the gallery.

Hilde threw her arms around his neck as she hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I told you," referring to her constant assurances that tonight would be a success, that he was more than just a fashion photographer.

Quatre complimented several of the photographs before offering Duo a nervous smile.

"I, ah, I have a proposition for you after seeing these," he said.

Duo looked between Hilde and Quatre. Hilde was smirking and Quatre was blushing.

"You've got to be joking."

Hilde had said she had always wanted to have a threesome - especially after Duo's reports of how amazing his night with Heero and Trowa had been.

"I, uh, no?" Quatre looked confused. "Of course, maybe you're too busy. I mean, I'm sure you are - especially after word gets out about this show. I'm sure you're going to have all kinds of people wanting to commission you and you're -"

"Work. You have a work proposition." Duo decided it was better to clarify _before_ instead of in the middle of embarrassing himself this time.

"Yes." Quatre looked between Hilde and Duo.

Hilde, meanwhile, was frowning but then, suddenly she seemed to understand Duo's confusion and she burst out laughing before she slapped a hand over her mouth and walked away from them, her shoulders shaking.

She waved away a concerned Quatre.

"I, ah, I wondered if you might be interested in taking some publicity photographs of the children at the music school. I think that your talent - and your name - would go a long way to helping us raise more money and -"

"Yes. Absolutely. I would love to."

Cat portraits, underprivileged children and super-models. Duo was pretty sure he had expanded his market demographic to such an extent tonight that even Dorothy would be impressed. Actually, on second thought, Duo wondered just what her reaction would be when he told her that he was going to take photographs of someone's cat…

His fantasy was interrupted when Hilde managed to recover herself and came back over to them.

"Really," she said as she wiped her eyes. "Everything looks amazing - everyone here is so impressed and I'm so proud of you and so happy."

"Thank you," Duo said and shook his head when she giggled.

"Is everything ok? Did I miss something?" Quatre asked with a frown.

"I'll tell you about it later," Hilde assured him.

Duo felt himself blush.

"You will _not_."

"Oh I most certainly _will_," Hilde retorted before tugging on Quatre's arm and continuing on their tour of the gallery.

Duo shook his head and sighed.

He allowed himself a smirk as he looked around the gallery.

Not an unmitigated disaster at all.

"Congratulations."

It was one word, but from that voice - Duo had to swallow hard before he turned around to see Heero standing behind him.

"Thank you," he said and he frowned as he looked for Trowa.

"He couldn't make it tonight," Heero said, of course knowing what Duo was doing.

"Oh. Ah, no worries." Duo hated how disappointed he felt - almost as much as he hated how content he was he hear Heero just _say_ one word to him.

"He wanted to come," Heero assured him, " but he had to do some last minute revisions on a project. His deadline is tonight - he just got the request for revisions yesterday and he hasn't slept. He's going to come by tomorrow - we both are. He's been looking forward to seeing your work ever since we found out about the show. We both have."

They stared at each other, and Duo didn't know if he had ever been more aware of the physical presence of another person before. He didn't know if it was the five glasses of champagne or if he really was just that pathetically in love with Heero but his fingers itched to touch Heero's skin, to peel off the sweater he wore and feel his heartbeat.

Duo swallowed hard and broke his gaze away from Heero's dark blue eyes.

"Your work is amazing," Heero said.

Duo nodded, then realized that the gesture probably seemed like arrogance and not a silent thank you.

"Thanks," he said. "I - I'm really glad you were able to see it."

"I've never seen… your photographs are so _real_. So unapologetically honest and beautiful, Duo. I knew you were talented but this -" Heero looked around the crowded room. "This really is incredible."

"Thank you, Heero." Duo winced after he said his name - winced at just how blindingly obvious he was being because just saying Heero's_ name_ felt like an admission of his feelings.

Heero seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but then he nodded to himself.

"Congratulations again. I'll let you get back to your mingling - I see your agent coming this way and if she's anything like mine then she'll be haranguing you to go meet someone more important than me."

"You're important," Duo protested.

Heero arched one eyebrow and the question in his expression was unmistakable.

"I mean, you're a _New York Times _best selling author," Duo hastily added.

Heero nodded again.

"True," he said with a small smile. "And I'll be sure to tell the critics I see over there how much I love your work."

Before Duo could say anything else, Dorothy was at his side and Heero was walking away.

Dorothy looped one arm through his and smirked.

"I told you," she said, oblivious to the look of longing he sent towards Heero's back.

"Told me what?" Duo asked, shaking himself mentally.

"That tonight was going to be an incredible success. Not only have almost half your pieces sold but someone wants to buy your self-portrait."

"What? That isn't even part of the collection."

"I know. And you won't believe how much money he's offering for it. So you're welcome for that too."

Duo snorted.

"Thank you," he said and turned to look at her. "I mean it. You set all of this up - you made this happen and I really appreciate it."

"It's my job to make your life perfect," she said with a shrug. "It's why you pay me such an obscenely high commission."

"I pay you an obscenely high commission because I neglected to read the fine print on the contract you shoved at me at six am one morning," he muttered.

"That too," she agreed. "Now do you want to tell me how you know Heero Yuy and why you were looking at him like a lovesick puppy or do I need to get it out of Hilde instead?"

Duo looked at her in shock.

"As I said, it's my job to make your life perfect. If I don't even notice you sighing romantically over a very attractive, very talented, very _taken_ writer then I wouldn't be able to do my job."

"I was not -"

"Yes, you were. Now, come meet this darling couple on the board of the Met and then you get to escape for the evening."

"But you just -"

"Tomorrow you will tell me all about Heero Yuy. But tonight, Duo, is about _you_."

-o-

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter - it really made my day to see people still looking forward to reading my work and just… thank you all.

A/N #2: Super huge thanks to Amberly in Violet for reading over this and giving me some great perspective on Duo being Jewish. Seriously - thank you!

Reviews of all kinds help tremendously so please… if you are still hanging on to this or my other stuff, let me know. I really, really appreciate it.

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3, Hx4

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter Four

This, Duo realized far too late, had been a mistake.

He was trying to maneuver his way into the front door of this apartment building while holding an extra large pizza in front of him and fighting off the gravitational pull of the three travel bags strapped to his back. It felt like gravity was kicking his ass, figuratively and literally.

"All I want is to eat my damn pizza," Duo said between clenched teeth, as though explaining his wants to the too narrow doorway would help him here.

He tried to turn, tried to angle the pizza box but of course - _of course _hot grease slid out of the box onto his hands and Duo cursed and dropped the damn thing.

Duo stared at the box, at the pizza slices now decorating the sidewalk and he sighed.

His hands free, he at least managed to open the door to the building and he hurled all three of his bags inside, gentle only with his camera bag, before turning to the mess he had made.

"Everything okay?"

Duo looked up from where he was trying to shovel pizza toppings back into the pizza box to see Trowa standing behind him, arms full of grocery bags and an expression somewhere between amusement and concern on his face.

"Yep. Everything is great. Just… you know… adding some special Brooklyn seasoning to my pizza."

Trowa nodded slowly.

"Right."

Duo gave up on scraping up the extra cheese from the front stoop and grabbed the box of mangled pizza, jumped down the stairs and walked the few feet over to the nearest trash can. He shoved the box in with the full force of his annoyance and then sighed again.

Nothing to be done about the food now. Or about the fact that he looked like an idiot.

When he turned around he saw Trowa still standing on the front stoop, still looking at him with that same expression.

"Let me get the door for you," Duo gamely offered, wishing someone had been around a few minutes early to offer _him_ that courtesy.

"Thanks," Trowa said.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem just watch your step - I threw all my crap in the door before I started to clean up the pizza."

Once he and Trowa were both inside, Duo hefted his many bags again and started to mentally catalogue the places that delivered.

"Where are you coming from this time?" Trowa asked Duo as they climbed the stairs.

"San Francisco." And a whole week of takeout, he didn't add because he knew it would come out as a whine.

"Was that - I'm guessing you need to revise your dinner plans."

Duo snorted.

"Yeah, I guess I do. I just - I don't want more takeout. I lived off of Chinese last week and that's fine but I really just wanted to sit down and eat a decent meal tonight."

"You consider pizza a decent meal?"

"I mean… when you put it like that, no."

Trowa smirked and paused at the landing for his floor.

"Why don't you come over for dinner?"

Duo stared at him.

"What?"

Trowa hefted the grocery bags in his arms.

"I'm making Coq Au Vin and there is more than enough for all three of us."

"Yeah I don't want to intrude or -"

"You wouldn't be intruding. Seriously. We would love to have you over."

Duo still hesitated. He didn't like how much he wanted to say yes, and he didn't trust himself not to do or say something he would regret.

"I…"

"Just dinner, Duo. I promise this isn't some convoluted plan to get you back in our bed."

Duo forced himself to laugh.

"Yeah, um, sure then. I'd love to."

He was pretty sure he didn't sound as devastated as he felt.

Trowa nodded and smiled slightly.

"Good. Why don't you come down in an hour? Dinner won't be quite ready yet but Heero should be home by then and that would give you some time to relax."

"Yeah, okay. See you in an hour."

Trowa walked down the hall and Duo continued his upward trudge to his own apartment.

Once inside he dropped his bags by the living room couch and flopped backwards onto it.

He wished he wasn't so incompetent that he couldn't even manage to carry a pizza. He wished Hilde wasn't away from the next three weeks helping her sister take care of her new baby. He wished he wasn't such a damn coward that he wanted to cancel on the dinner. He wished he wasn't so pathetically in love with Heero and Trowa.

After allowing himself a few minutes to wallow in self-loathing and self-pity, Duo dragged himself off the couch and decided to shower, shave and put on clean clothes.

Not because he wanted to look good, he assured himself as he rejected three shirts before finally settling on a black cowl neck sweater, but because he…

_Who the hell am I kidding_? he thought as he stepped into the shower. _Of course I want to look good. Of course I want this to be some convoluted plan to get me back in their bed_.

-o-

When he knocked on their apartment door and hour later, bottle of wine in hand, Heero opened the door and smiled at him.

Smiled the kind of wide, genuine smile that he had a few times _that_ night, the kind of smile that made Duo momentarily forget to breathe, the kind of smile that had his lips arching upwards in response.

"I'm glad you're joining us," Heero said and ushered Duo inside.

Duo scratched at the back of his neck.

"Yeah, well, I appreciate the offer."

"You brought over some wine," Heero said.

"Yeah, uh… here." Duo handed over the bottle and Heero nodded.

"Thank you." Trowa gestured towards the kitchen. "Trowa is working on the rice and green beans but dinner should be ready soon."

Duo followed him towards the kitchen and sat down at the bar when prompted.

Heero put a glass of wine in front of him and Duo took too large of a sip and coughed.

Trowa looked away from the stovetop towards him in concern.

"Sorry," Duo coughed again and waved off their concern even as he felt his face flush. He was such a disaster.

"The reviews for your show were wonderful," Heero said as he sat down beside Duo at the bar, their knees bumping together before Duo shifted away.

"Yeah, they were kind," Duo agreed.

Trowa snorted derisively.

"They were _honest_. Your work was amazing." He looked beyond Duo's shoulder and nodded.

Duo turned to see what Trowa was looking at and saw one of his photographs hanging on the wall above their fireplace. It was one of his favorites, a photograph of a handful of kids making flower crowns that he had taken in Peru. He found himself smiling as he remembered on the girls putting a crown on his head and insisting he was now a princess.

"I - you didn't have to buy it. I would have just given you one of -"

"No. We wanted to," Heero stopped him. "We wanted to contribute to your success."

Duo found himself blushing. What _was_ it with him and blushing around these two?

"I'm just sorry I wasn't able to be at the opening," Trowa said.

"Oh, yeah, how did those revisions go?"

Trowa rolled his eyes before turning back to the stove.

"They were fine - and of course I didn't hear back until four days later when they thanked me for doing them _early_. It turns out the publisher's assistant got the dates wrong and - it doesn't matter now."

Duo found himself admiring the sight of Trowa wearing a gray chefs apron and had the wistful thought that he could get used to this.

"Any Christmas plans?" Heero asked him.

"Just watching crappy Lifetime Christmas movies and eating leftovers from whatever I have on Christmas Eve."

Heero arched an eyebrow.

Duo shrugged.

"I mean, there isn't really a plethora of crappy Chanukah movies and besides it'll be over by then."

"You're Jewish." Heero sounded surprised.

Duo felt his lips twitch.

"A guy can't just want there to be more crappy Chanukah movies?"

Trowa chuckled and Heero smiled.

"Yeah, I'm Jewish."

"When is -"

"It started yesterday actually. I'm not the most observant Jew though so… I'll pretend like I lit the menorah last night in my hotel room and let's just not tell my rabbi."

"Shit."

They looked over at Trowa, who was staring at the casserole he had just removed from the oven mournfully.

"I'm sure it's going to be great," Duo said, assuming something had gone wrong.

"There's bacon in it," Trowa groused, tossing aside the oven mitts he had used to remove the casserole and giving Duo an apologetic look. "I didn't know -"

Duo held up a hand.

"It's okay. I don't exactly keep a kosher diet. Really," he said when Trowa still looked anxious. "I've eaten pork before. I've eaten bacon before."

"You didn't serve ham at Thanksgiving. I should have -"

"Trowa, seriously. I love bacon. Half the guys I went to Hebrew school get pepperoni on their pizza. It's not a big deal."

Trowa still looked unhappy but he sighed and nodded.

"I'll just set the table," Heero said, getting up from the bar and shooting Duo a look that spoke of how amused he was by Trowa's anxiety. Duo had to smirk back at him, feeling a little weird to be laughing at Trowa and even more weird to share the joke with Heero.

"Are there _any_ crappy Chanukah movies?" Trowa asked as they sat down at the diner table.

The question startled Duo into a laugh.

"Well, there's the Rugrats Chanukah special," Duo said, "which I still maintain is the best Chanukah thing ever made. But no there aren't any 'stuck at the airport while trying to make it home for Chanukah and introducing your boyfriend to your wacky family' type Chanukah movies."

Heero chuckled.

"That's too bad."

"I agree," Duo smirked. "Maybe you should use that in your next novel."

Heero snorted.

"Yeah, only to have the movie rights bought and the whole thing turned into a heterosexual Christmas movie."

Duo winced.

"So _Out at Home_ still not going well?"

Heero shook his head.

"No. I've… given up. They own the rights now. It was my fault for trusting my agent in the first place when he said they would be faithful to my intentions."

"I still think you should fire him," Trowa murmured.

Heero sighed.

"He's been my agent for six years now and -"

"You know my agent represents a few authors," Duo said, feeling a bit like a kid interrupting two adults deep in conversation.

Heero frowned.

"I met her at your show. She was… very forceful."

Duo laughed.

"Yeah, yeah that's one way to describe Dorothy. But she's always looked out for me, always made sure I was getting what I deserved - hell, she's the one who practically forced that show on me. She's good. If you want, I can give you her contact information?"

Heero frowned again but then nodded.

"It wouldn't hurt to have a conversation with her," Heero said.

Trowa smirked at Duo and nodded slightly, as though thanking him.

-o-

"This was amazing," Duo told Trowa as he helped Heero clear the table. "Thank you for inviting me over."

"Again, we wanted you here," Trowa assured him, getting up from the table and heading towards the kitchen.

"No, sit," Heero stopped him and nodded towards the couch. "I'll clean up while you keep Duo company."

"I don't mind helping," Duo argued. "Not that I don't want to hang out with you," he hastened to add when Trowa arched an eyebrow. "I just feel like I should _do_ something."

"I'll wash while you dry?" Heero offered.

"Deal."

"And I'll work on emptying this bottle of wine," Trowa said, picking up the bottle and his wine glass before walking over to the couch and sitting down.

Duo smirked as he watched Trowa stretch out before filling up his glass and taking a rather healthy sip.

He found it adorable that Trowa was still wearing the apron - he wondered if he had forgotten it was even on.

"He has no idea he's still wearing the apron," Heero said, following Duo's gaze and seemingly reading his mind.

"It's not a bad look for him," Duo said. And then instantly felt like an idiot. He looked over and saw Heero nodding, a fond look on his face as he continued to look at Trowa.

"No it definitely is not."

He gestured towards the sink and Duo followed him over.

They worked together in silence to clean the dishes and put them away and by the time they had finished Duo realized he was in danger of feeling at home in their apartment.

There was something soothing about washing dishes with Heero, something downright _romantic_ about walking over to join Trowa on the couch for another glass of wine when they finished.

It wasn't until Heero urged Trowa to scoot over on the couch and then lean against his side, until he reached over and took the wine glass from Trowa's hand and sipped it himself that Duo was jarred back into the reality that this _wasn't_ his home, _wasn't_ his romance.

He shifted uneasily on his end of the couch. He should go.

He stood up and both Trowa and Heero looked at him.

"I ah, I should probably go," he said, his eyes drawn to Heero's hand as it curved around Trowa's waist and held him closer. He swallowed hard and looked away.

"You could stay," Heero said.

Duo rolled his eyes.

"I thought this _wasn't_ some convoluted plan to get me back in bed with you two."

"That wasn't - I just meant you could… you don't have to go. We could talk or watch a movie or - or track down the Rugrats Chanukah special," Heero offered with a slight grin.

Duo ran a hand through his hair.

"I can't. I can't just - it's great that you two can so easily just forget about that night we spent together but I can't. Every time I look at you two I just - I mean this is actual _torture_ for me. To be this close to you two and know that I mean nothing to you. Do you really not get that or -"

"You don't mean nothing to us," Trowa said, shifting away from Heero.

"And we haven't forgotten anything about that night, Duo. We haven't forgotten and - and every time either of us spends time with you it -" Heero stopped himself and shook his head.

"If we thought a convoluted plan to get you back in our bed would work more than once, I promise you we'd be coming up with convoluted plans every day," Trowa said quietly.

Duo stared at him.

"But you - you two are -"

Trowa sighed and Heero nodded, a scowl on his face.

"I know. _We_ know. Before you everything was great. But now -"

"Now what?" Duo had to ask.

"Now we want you," Trowa said.

"But want me for what? I just -" Duo ran a hand through his hair and gestured towards the dining table and the kitchen. "I just spend this incredible meal with you two and it feels like - I want too much." He shook his head. "You want me in your bed but I want to be there on the couch with you two. I want to smirk at Heero when I see you wearing an apron hours after you've finished cooking and I - I don't want to go home to my empty apartment and hope I'll be able to figure out some excuse to run into one of you or both of you again just so I can be near you."

As soon as he had mentioned the apron, Trowa looked down in horror, almost sidetracking Duo's confession, but then Trowa and Heero both looked at him with serious expressions.

"I didn't realize you were interested in more than sex," Heero said after an almost unbearably long silence.

Duo let out a shaky laugh.

"Yeah, well… I am."

Heero and Trowa exchanged a look and Duo wondered just how much they were able to communicate like that.

"Tonight was… even better than I hoped it would be," Trowa said eventually, turning back to Duo. Heero nodded in agreement. "But we didn't think you wanted - it's not something we thought about."

Duo nodded.

"Yeah, I'm getting that."

"We're not saying no," Trowa added quickly when Duo started to back away from the couch.

Duo arched an eyebrow at him.

"I just don't know how this is supposed to work - we don't know," Trowa corrected himself.

"I'm not really an expert on threesomes," Duo muttered, feeling only mildly encouraged by Trowa's assurance that they weren't saying _no_ to Duo wanting more than another chance to fuck them.

"I - we could do research," Heero suggested.

Both Trowa and Duo looked at him and Heero shrugged defensively.

"None of us know anything about this," he said. "Before now we didn't even realize Duo would want more than sex - we didn't think we would even be able to talk him into that. I think we should all… think about this."

Trowa nodded in agreement and turned back to Duo.

"Is that okay with you?"

"I'm not sure what I'm agreeing to, to be honest," Duo admitted.

"Taking things slow?" Heero suggested. "Seeing if this could work."

"I…" Duo had a bad feeling about this. A feeling like he was standing on the edge of a cliff and if he took even one step further he was going to fall. He looked between them, at their expressions of hope and he realized he had already taken that step.

"I - yeah, yeah," he nodded, trying to convince himself this wasn't all going to be a complete disaster. "I could do that."

Both men smirked.

"But I think I should go home now. This," he gestured between the three of them, "this is a lot to process."

Heero nodded in agreement and both men got up from the couch.

"We should try a date," Duo said, surprising all of them. "Go out somewhere and -" he realized immediately how weird and awkward that might be. Where would they go? What would they do?

"We could finally take you to that brewery and restaurant we told you about at Halloween," Heero suggested.

"Yeah. I'm in town for the next few weeks so -"

"How about tomorrow night?" Trowa suggested.

Duo chuckled.

"Well it will ruin my plans for a second attempt at navigating the building while holding a pizza but yeah, tomorrow night would be good."

"We'll come by your apartment around seven?" Heero asked.

Duo nodded and he felt a flutter of excitement. He was going out on a date with these two.

"So… thanks again for dinner," Duo said after a moment. "And, uh, good night I guess?"

"If we're dating now I think it's only fair to kiss you goodnight," Trowa said.

Duo looked over at him.

Trowa was smirky, looking cocky and so much like he had on Halloween, even without the Joker makeup that Duo had to swallow hard and remind himself to breathe.

"Uh… okay."

Trowa's smirk grew even wider and he stepped closer to Duo before leaning forward and brushing his lips over Duo's, the touch so light Duo barely felt it. He pressed forward, wanting more, and he could feel Trowa's smirk as the other man deeped the kiss, caressing Duo's mouth and sucking on Duo's lower lip for a moment before stepping back.

Duo stared at him, all thoughts of leaving, of taking things slow, of _anything_ other than kissing Trowa again wiped from his brain.

Trowa slowly eased away, leaving Duo leaning towards him even as he stepped back.

"May I?" Heero asked.

Duo nodded and even though _he_ was the one that stepped over to Heero, it was Heero who wrapped his arms around Duo and held him close while he kissed him, mouth open and his tongue tracing over Duo's lips until he opened his mouth and tasted the wine on Heero's lips and tongue, until his mind was flooded with memories of that night and he could actually feel himself growing hard at the reminder of just how incredible Heero's mouth felt.

Almost without conscious thought, Duo shifted his hands to Heero's waist, pushing his sweater up so that he could feel his bare skin and he would have done more, was desperate for more - but Trowa cleared his throat and Heero and Duo broke apart guiltily.

"I think any longer and we're all going to convince ourselves that taking it slow means _slowly_ undressing each other," Trowa said drily.

Duo chuckled and Heero smirked.

"We'll see you tomorrow night?" Trowa asked.

Duo nodded and stepped away from Heero.

"Yes. I'm - I'm looking forward to it."

"So are we," Heero assured him, eyes dark with lust and it was an effort for Duo to walk away and let himself out of their apartment.

It wasn't until he was upstairs in his own apartment, undressing and crawling into bed alone that the full impact of what had just happened hit him.

He'd gone from unforgettable one night stand to… potential boyfriend?

It was hard to imagine how this would turn out well, but it wasn't at all difficult to imagine how good it would feel to _be_ with them again, and it was that thought that Duo contented himself with as he settled down to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you, as always, to Ro. If I'm writing for an audience of one, at least I know it's a generous and brilliant audience.

Reviews of all kinds help tremendously so please… if you are still hanging on to this or my other stuff, let me know. I really, really appreciate it.

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3, Hx4, 2x?

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter Five

"...changing my fee to thirty-five percent. I think that's only fair, don't you? I also booked you for a gig in Kazakhstan again - remember how you made me promise to never let you go back? Well, I'm making you go back. I bought a dog on the internet last night. In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea, but I've always wanted a St. Bernard and I'm frankly curious about how they plan to ship it. I'm also thinking about redecorating the office, adding in a fire-pit and maybe a water feature. After all, I'll have all of that money from the sixty-five percent fee I'll be charging you. Plus-"

"Wait, you bought a dog on the internet?"

Duo had to stare at Dorothy, a woman who he had never, ever pictured as being the kind of person who wanted a pet.

She smirked at him, and Duo realized, too slowly, that she had said other things as well. A _lot_ of other things.

"I'm not giving you thirty-five percent - or sixty-five."

"Well, now that I've finally gotten your attention - by telling you I bought a filthy _dog_ off the internet - mind telling me why you've sat here for the last five minutes staring off into space instead of actually listening to me tell you about all of the jobs coming your way after your gallery show?"

Duo sighed, folded his arms across his chest, and slumped down in his chair.

He and Dorothy were at the corner coffee shop near his studio, where he had agreed to finally meet her and stop avoiding the discussion of _what comes next_.

Of course, Duo wasn't all that interested in talking about his future at the best of times. Considering the fact that almost all of his mental energy was occupied with freaking out over his date that night with Trowa and Heero, Duo was even less engaged in Dorothy's discussion of his career than normal.

"I have a date tonight." He might as well tell her the truth - it was Dorothy, who specialized in discovering people's weaknesses and exploiting them. If Duo _didn't_ just come out and say it, she would find out anyway and rub Duo's face in it after she did.

She arched an eyebrow.

"A date? Does this mean you've gotten over the hot and unavailable author?"

Duo snorted, and then had to rub his hands over his face. It was funny. Kind of.

"The date is _with_ the hot and unavailable author."

Dorothy leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, setting down her iphone and giving Duo her undivided attention. They had never actually had the conversation she had threatened him with, about Heero and the way that Duo had looked at him during his show.

"We are talking about Heero Yuy - who just a few weeks ago went on national television and spoke about his meaningful relationship with his _fiance_, aren't we?" she asked.

Duo sighed and nodded.

He scraped his fingers over the table between them, and tried to avoid Dorothy's piercing blue gaze.

"Did he _leave_ his fiance for you?"

"What? No. That's crazy. He would never leave Trowa. Those two are perfect for each other."

He could tell, from Dorothy's expression, that he had only confused her and concerned her.

"He's… cheating on his fiance, then? With you? When you say date, how public is this going to be? I don't want you to expose yourself to any-"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_." Duo held up his hands and glared at Dorothy. "Are you- no. Heero wouldn't cheat on Trowa. That's-" Duo stopped and shook his head.

He thought about the way they looked at each other and talked about each other. It was perfectly clear that they were each other's biggest fans. He couldn't imagine Trowa or Heero cheating on each other.

"Then what, exactly-" Dorothy sighed and rubbed her forehead. "They're in some sort of open relationship? Duo, these things never work out, and you deserve more than to be someone's piece on the side."

"Piece on the side?" Duo's lips twitched at the words, at Dorothy's exasperated expression. "I'm not- well, it's not quite like that."

Dorothy arched an eyebrow and waited for Duo to finally clarify the situation.

Considering that, of all the scenarios she had suggested, the truth _hadn't_ been one of them, Duo found himself hesitating.

Dorothy thought that it was more likely that Heero had left his fiance, was cheating on his fiance, or was seeing Duo on the side with his fiance's permission. How was she going to take the knowledge that Duo was going on a date with _both_ of them?

Only one way to find out.

"I'm not Heero's piece on the side. This date, tonight - it's with both of them."

Dorothy stared at him for a solid minute, and while Duo could see that she was thinking, he couldn't tell _what_ she was thinking.

"Interesting," was her eventual verdict.

"_Interesting_?" Duo echoed. "That's- that's all you have to say?"

Dorothy took a sip of her coffee and shrugged, her shoulders lifting in a minimal, elegant gesture that nevertheless conveyed she thought it was a lot more than just _interesting_.

"What?" Duo sighed.

"It's your life, Duo."

"Weird how I already knew that and yet it's never stopped you from expressing your opinions before. In fact, I'm pretty sure you've _never_ not expressed your opinions about my life."

"This time is different."

Duo snorted and shook his head.

"No, no, no. You don't get to just sit there and tell me this is _interesting_ and not elaborate. You _know_ the way my mind works, and you saying _that_ is going to make me start doubting all of this even more, and I-"

"You already have doubts?"

Duo sighed.

"Yeah, of course I do. They've been together for seven years, and they… I mean, a one-night stand isn't exactly the basis for a great relationship, and I… I don't know. I really, really like both of them, but…"

"You had a one-night stand?"

Duo nodded and offered her a slight smirk.

"Halloween - remember when I begged off going to that industry party?"

"Oh, I remember." Dorothy still sounded bitter. She hated when Duo blew off functions that had the potential to land him more gigs. "So instead of booking the new Valentino ad, you were in Brooklyn having sex with these two."

"Yeah, and it was good. It was- it was an _amazing _night. Not just the sex - which was crazy, Dorothy. I don't think I've ever had so many-"

"Spare me the details, Duo. I don't tell _you_ about all of the women I sleep with."

"Fair point. Anyway… it was more than just sex. And we had dinner last night - well, they came over for Thanksgiving, too. And Trowa came over to watch Heero on TV, and Heero came to my show, obviously."

"Obviously," Dorothy agreed. She looked him over, a slight frown on her face. "You really do like them."

Duo nodded miserably.

"Yeah, I really do. Now tell me why you think this is so _interesting_."

It was Dorothy's turn to sigh.

"I want the absolute best for you, Duo. And I simply… have reservations about a _threesome_ being the best for you. They are an established couple, and- are they polyamorous?"

"No. This is… a first for all of us."

Dorothy nodded, her lips compressed, and Duo didn't need to hear her say it - he already knew that she thought _that_ spelled further disaster.

She was silent for a long, tense moment.

"In my experience," she said at last, her words carefully chosen, "a threesome - it can be fun for a while, but it can get very complicated and very, very messy."

"I… that's what I'm afraid of. I feel like _everything_ I touch turns complicated and messy - and a relationship with _two_ guys? I fuck up relationships with just _one_ all the damn time."

Dorothy's lips turned down in a sneer.

"Yes, well, you have terrible taste in men. Of course your relationships end up complicated and messy."

"Thanks for the support."

Dorothy shrugged again.

"Of course I support you, but I'm not blind, and I'm not going to pamper you. You have Hilde for that. Sort of," she amended, no doubt thinking about the fact that Hilde's idea of _pampering_ Duo was to tell him to _get off your ass, please_. "What does Hilde think of all this?"

Duo sighed, and fiddled with his now very cold coffee.

"She doesn't really know. I mean, she knows about the one-night stand and all of the rest of it, except for last night, and the date tonight thing. She's still away, and I don't want to bug her with my weird shit."

"Mm. I feel quite certain you will regret that when she _does_ learn about all of your 'weird shit.'"

"That… is a good point." Duo sighed. "Okay. Yeah, I'll tell her. I'll call her tomorrow. After… you know, after tonight."

"Generally, that _is_ when tomorrow occurs," Dorothy agreed.

Duo gave her a look, but, as usual, she was completely immune to his irritation.

"So, just what kind of date _is_ this?" she asked.

Duo shrugged. "Just dinner. We're trying to take things slow… figure everything out, you know? We already know the sex is great, so we're just… taking a step back..."

"Mm." Dorothy was back to looking superior and judgemental, but Duo didn't want to ask. He really _didn't_ need any more reasons to think this was a bad idea.

Not when he already had so many.

-o-

Taking things slow, as it turned out, meant a dinner filled with heated glances, casual touches that had Duo _way_ too aware of how much he had had to drink and how incredibly sexy Heero and Trowa were, and, in the end, it had meant walking Heero and Trowa to their door at the end of the night and leaning in for a goodnight kiss.

Heero had one shoulder propped against the door to their apartment, smirking, eyes bright from the beer and his clear arousal, and when Duo brushed his lips over Heero's, the other man pulled him close and deepened the kiss immediately.

Duo, of course, had no complaints. He welcomed the curl of Heero's tongue against his own, Heero's hands cradling his face, Heero's lips seemingly intent on devouring him.

He also welcomed the unexpected feel of Trowa standing behind him and pressing his lips to the back of Duo's neck, trailing them up to his ear and sucking on the lobe until Duo gasped into Heero's mouth.

Trowa's arms slid around Duo's waist and he stepped closer, pressing the length of his body against Duo's back, and Duo relaxed into him, relishing the contact.

Heero shifted one hand, reaching past Duo to touch Trowa, fingers buried in his hair.

Duo wasn't quite sure what to do with _his_ hands, so he settled on tangling his left hand with Trowa's, where it rested against his stomach, and wrapping the other around Heero, tugging him close, so that there was no space between the three of them.

Both men shifted against him, and Duo could feel their erections even through their clothes, and he knew that Heero could feel his, especially when Heero moved against him, rocking his hips forward so that their erections, trapped in their clothes and between their bodies, rubbed together.

Duo groaned, and finally broke off the kiss.

He sucked in a deep, unsteady breath.

"What happened to taking things slow?" he asked, even as he lowered his hand to Heero's ass, cupping one firm cheek and squeezing.

Heero sighed in pleasure, eyes drifting shut as he shifted against Duo again, not quite, but very nearly, humping against him.

"We can still do that," Trowa said, his breath warm against Duo's neck. His hand, still twined with Duo's, moved lower, until his fingers grazed Duo's cock and squeezed it through the fabric of his trousers. "If you want."

Duo arched into the touch, and just barely kept himself from moaning.

He was conflicted.

On the one hand, _no,_ he did not want to still take things slow - he wanted them, wanted _this_. But he also wanted more than just sex. He wanted more dinners like tonight, more flirting and silly arguments about whether gouda or manchego was a better choice of cheese on a pizza.

Duo didn't want this to just become a string of hook-ups - even with dinner beforehand. He wanted to sleep in their bed and wake up with them, he wanted to sit on their couch and watch movies, he wanted to- he wanted to know what their lives were like, and he wanted to be a part of them.

Trowa's hand moved again, sliding under the waistband of Duo's trousers, and Duo leaned his head back on Trowa's shoulder, feeling anticipation and pleasure coil in his groin.

"Come inside with us," Trowa whispered into Duo's ear as his hand closed around the firm, smooth flesh of Duo's cock.

Duo groaned at the feeling, and couldn't help but jerk his hips against Trowa's hand, pushing against Heero as well, and Heero latched onto Duo's waist with his hands and pushed back. _Now_ he was definitely humping against Duo.

Duo opened his mouth, ready to say fuck it to all of his doubts and just enjoy this thing because he was confident it was the best sex he had ever had - the best sex he _would_ ever have. And maybe-

"Ahem."

The sound of someone clearing their throat extinguished all of Duo's thoughts about _anything_ feeling amazing.

He stood up straight in the same moment that Trowa pulled his hand out of Duo's pants and Heero stepped back, and, almost as one, they turned to see who had made the sound.

Standing on the landing, either on his way up or down, was Wufei, leashed cat in hand, fearsome scowl on his face.

Wufei had glared at Duo before - plenty of times, including the very first day that Duo had moved into the apartment building and almost dropped one of his boxes on Nataku as Wufei walked past with her - but his glare had never looked _quite_ so cold as it did in this moment.

He stood there for another moment, his dark gaze raking over the three men and his disapproval very, _very_ evident.

And then he continued on, down the stairs, Nataku following at his heels.

"I, um. I think I'll just call it a night," Duo decided.

Heero nodded in understanding, and Trowa, moving from behind Duo, looked as shell-shocked as Duo felt.

"We just got caught making out in the hallway like randy high-schoolers," he muttered under his breath.

Heero gave a startled laugh, but Duo could only muster up a weak smile. He had a hard time finding the situation funny.

He sighed and took a step back.

"Yeah. I… sorry about all of that."

Trowa shrugged.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

Heero nodded in agreement, and made a gesture towards the stairwell.

"We probably shouldn't have been putting on that kind of a show out here, but none of us did something _wrong_."

Duo nodded. He knew that - he agreed with them, because despite the way that Wufei had looked at them as if they were drowning kittens, they were three consenting adults feeling each other up in public.

He sighed.

"So… I guess this is goodnight?"

"It _was_ a good night," Heero said, his full lips curving into a smile that made Duo's heart skip a beat.

Trowa smirked, and Duo had to force himself to take another step back, and then another.

"Right. Well. Um, I'll call you? Or…" He didn't really know what to say or do next.

"Or we can call you," Trowa suggested with another smirk. "Maybe this weekend we can get together again."

Duo nodded again, feeling like he really should just pull together the shreds of his dignity and leave.

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Heero unlocked the door to their apartment, and Duo watched them go inside before finally forcing himself to turn around and walk away.

And, of course, as he approached the stairs, Wufei and Nataku were on their way back up.

Duo paused, intending to let Wufei go ahead of him up the stairs, but Wufei stopped, waiting for _Duo_ to move.

"You go first," Duo gestured for Wufei to proceed him up the stairs.

Frowning, Wufei did so, and Duo waited for him to pass before falling into step behind him.

When they got to their floor, Duo maintained a safe distance behind Wufei, but then he saw the other man glance over his shoulder and scowl again.

Duo sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry you had to see that - we shouldn't be doing that in public or whatever, but I just… It's not like we were doing it around kids, and I was just saying good night, and things got carried away, and…"

Wufei arched an eyebrow as Duo continued to speak, feeling more and more like he was making a mess of this apology.

"I do think your choice of _location_ was questionable, but not as questionable as your choice of partners."

Duo stared.

"What- Heero and Trowa are questionable? Or is it because of _me_?"

"Of course it's because of you."

Duo scoffed.

"You think I'm not good enough, or-"

"Don't be an idiot. Of course you are good enough. I have _no_ trouble seeing why _they_ are interested in _you_. I simply don't understand why _you_, who gave me a very clumsy speech about not being into casual sex, would then go and- oh. I see."

Wufei stopped talking abruptly, and snapped his mouth closed.

Duo had to stare, but when Wufei's cheeks flushed red, he lifted an eyebrow.

"You see what?"

"When you said all of that - when you told me you found me attractive but you weren't available - you were simply trying to let me down gently when you thought I was making advances at you. You _do_ enjoy casual sex, just not with-"

"Whoa, no, no, no. That is _not_ what is happening here. I mean, yeah, I _was_ trying to let you down gently, but not because I don't- Look, Wufei, I really _don't_ do casual sex. And I'm _not_\- Hell, I just-"

"You are letting two men who have spent a quarter of their lives together seduce you. What could be _more_ casual than that? Trowa was groping you in _public_."

"It's not casual. I mean, we're trying to figure it out. It's… it's complicated."

Wufei stared at him for a long, silent moment, and then he shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

"This is exactly why I said I had no interest in dating you," he said, and then turned and walked away.

Leaving Duo staring after him and wondering just what the hell was going on.


End file.
